These mini landscapes make me think of the backgrounds of some of Pieter Bruegel The Elder’s non creepy scenes-specifically the hazy atmosphere, patches of light beige fields disappearing in the distance and the grayish blue sky.

A landscape in late summer- Original painting by MJ Seal. Acrylic on canvas board, 7″ x 5″. C. 2016Bird’s eye view of a landscape in late summer- original painting by MJ Seal. Acrylic on canvas board, 4″ x 5″. C. 2016

My first batch of porcelain “sea forms” survived their first trip through the kiln. These are all completely free form pieces- I wasn’t quite sure what the final object would be and they all have a very organic ( and oceanic) look to them. Next step – glazing.

A variety of forms that could be bowls, vases, shot glasses and platters.This shell- like form would make an excellent bowlI was really wondering if this luminary would make it through the first firing.

I got the first batch of porcelain holiday ornaments cut out- hopefully they will survive the drying process- with the leaves you never know.

This first batch of leaf shaped ornaments will be hanging by the stems- hopefully they will be strong enough when fired to hold together.Some retro/modern shapes in this batch of porcelain ornamentsI went ahead and cut out another batch of jewelry pendants- I have several more glazes I want to experiment with and smaller pieces are good candidates for finishes when you have no idea what the final result will be.

So the first batch of experimental necklace pendants is out of the kiln. Most of them turned out different shades of brown- I thought they would come out different colors but whats on the label isn’t necessarily what will come out of the oven. They definitely have a nice earthy look to them- especially with the hemp cord.

I tried out a number of different glazes on this batch of necklace pendants.

I probably should have written down which glazes were on each pendant. My two favorites were the Salt Buff on White and the Ironstone on White (at least I think that’s what they are)